Facebook on Hurricane Harvey Fundraising Efforts: $10 Million and Counting

Facebook announced Thursday that its community has helped raise more than $10 million to aid victims of Hurricane Harvey.

The social network pledged earlier this week to match every dollar raised on Facebook, up to $1 million, for the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund, which is earmarked to support recovery and rebuilding efforts.

The $1 million match was contributed, and Facebook waived fees on donations to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund made via messages atop users’ News Feeds.

Other nonprofits that were able to raise money using Facebook’s charitable giving tools included the American Red Cross, the Houston Food Bank, Austin Pets Alive!, the Texas Diaper Bank, Operation BBQ Relief, Texas Rubicon USA and the Greater Houston Community Foundation.

We wondered if Facebook might be understating its impact, as Houston Texans star J.J. Watt announced in a tweet Thursday that the YouCaring fundraising page he set up had topped $10 million.

At the time of this post, that total was more than $14 million.

However, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed the “more than $10 million” figure, as well as the company’s matching $1 million donation.

Facebook also announced that it will donate $1 million to organizations on the ground and providing relief and recovery support in flood-ravaged areas of south Asia, and it is launching a fundraising campaign for Save the Children, with all fees waived.